About
Welcome to New Shepherds Orientation, a blog, and website dedicated to providing information, inspiration, and appreciation for those men and their families who serve as shepherds (elders, bishops, overseers) of the Lord’s church.
I have served with sixty-four shepherds in full-time and interim ministry and scores of others in workshops, consultations, and gospel meetings. These men have taught, encouraged, corrected, and supported me since I started preaching in 1961.
My full-time ministry has taken me to five congregations from 1967 to 2007 and ten congregations for interim ministry from 2007.
I was blessed with a variety of transitional experiences in ministry. The first place out of school was my first full-time job and their first full-time preacher. I didn’t know what I was doing when I went and didn’t know what I was doing when I left. In the second congregation, I was fired. In the third, I resigned without knowing where I was going. I spent seven months discussing, planning, and thinking between the fourth and last church. It was a slow, smooth transition.
In all of these, I learned about leadership, myself, how to serve, and many ways not to serve. I want to share some of those learning experiences with you and others.
I plan to post once a month and add multiple resources to help elders be more effective in their work.
If you can find a helpful “mustard seed” in this blog, please subscribe and tell elders, deacons, preachers, and all concerned Christians about this resource.
PHILOSOPHY
- The group becomes like its leaders.
- Whatever you would like to see different in the group, become that yourself, and in days or decades, the group will likely imitate those attitudes and actions.
- The group (eldership) will grow in proportion to the growth of individuals in the group.
- Gratitude is a growth-producing attitude. The church should appreciate its shepherds. Shepherds should appreciate the gift of service from the Holy Spirit and the trust and cooperation of the flock under their care.
- The model for each shepherd is Jesus, the Chief Shepherd.
I write another blog post on interim ministry: Between Preachers.
A weekly podcast, Gleaning Mustard Seeds
Book on interim ministry: Between Preachers: You Can Grow Through Interim Ministry
My wife’s book, Fleecy Clouds: One Woman’s Story of Surviving and Thriving after Childhood Abuse
BIOGRAPHY
I grew up in Centerville, Tennessee, graduating from Hickman County High School in 1963.
I went to Freed-Hardeman University, receiving an A.A. and a Third Year Certificate in Bible in 1966.
I met Gail Champion, raised at Childhaven in Cullman, Alabama. We were married on August 18, 1964. We have two children, six grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
I received a B.A. in Bible from Lipscomb University in June 1967.
Classes on counseling, grief, and conflict under James A. Jones, M.A., Central church of Christ, Dalton, Georgia, 1982–1985, provided me with principles and skills on how to deal with people, problems, and conflict. I was privileged to co-lead over thirty workshops, Leadership Dynamic for Dynamic Leaders, 1986–2006.
John Parker, Gail, and I participated in Basic Education from the Interim Ministry Network in 1998-1999. There were two weeks of class instruction and six months of fieldwork. This was eight years before we started interim ministry. I took a refresher course from the Interim Ministry Network, in March 2007.
The Postgraduate Seminar in Family Emotional Process at The Center for Family Process in Bethesda, Maryland, consisted of three three-day seminars: October 2001, January, and April 2002. Edwin Friedman, author of Generation to Generation and many other books, started this educational and growth experience. Besides the Bible, this book has been the most influential in my life and ministry.
Gail and I participated in Dan Miller’s Coaching with Excellence workshop on January 16- 17, 2014. We learned principles for helping others grow and develop according to their opportunities and personalities.
Some of my best educational experiences were weeks of isolation, where I read, studied, and reflected fourteen hours a day. I did this on August 11–18, 2000, November 5–9, 2001, September 13–17, 2004, and September 16–20, 2013.
MINISTRY EXPERIENCE
Interim:
Pacific Church of Christ, Pacific, Missouri, October 2021-August 2023
Central Church of Christ, McMinnville, Tennessee, June 2020-July 2021
River Road Church of Christ, Nashville, Tennessee, November 2018-March 2020
Shady Acres Church of Christ, Sikeston, Missouri, April 2017-August 2018
Northside Church of Christ, Jeffersonville, Indiana, September 2015-February 2017
Maury City Church of Christ, Maury City, Tennessee, September 2013-July 2015
LaVergne Church of Christ, LaVergne, Tennessee, August 2011-June 2013
Collegeside Church of Christ, Cookeville, Tennessee, March 2010-June 2011
Hendersonville Church of Christ, Hendersonville, Tennessee, October 2008-December 2009
Eddyville Church of Christ, Eddyville, Kentucky, May 2007-August 2008
Full time:
Berry’s Chapel Church of Christ, June 1993-April 2007
Sabbatical, June, July, and August 2000
West Nashville Heights Church of Christ, July 1988-May 1993
Central Church of Christ, Dalton, Georgia, April 1977-June 1988
Madisonville Church of Christ, Madisonville, Kentucky, December 1968-March 1977
Yorkville Church of Christ, Yorkville, Tennessee, March 1967-November 1968
Regular Sunday appointments while in school:
Wrigley Church of Christ, Wrigley, Tennessee, June 1966-February 1967
Dorris Chapel Church of Christ, Trenton, Tennessee, September 1965-May 1966
Yorkville Church of Christ, Yorkville, Tennessee, June 1965-August 1965
Northside Church of Christ, Corinth, Mississippi, August 1964-May 1965
Monthly appointments while in high school and first year of college:
Lower Sulphur Church of Christ, Centerville, Tennessee
Little Rock Church of Christ, Wrigley, Tennessee
Wolf Creek Church of Christ, Centerville, Tennessee
Beaverdam Springs Church of Christ, Centerville, Tennessee
Brush Creek Church of Christ, Linden, Tennessee
Farmers Valley Church of Christ, Linden, Tennessee
HOBBIES
I have been practicing ventriloquism since 1955. I do several programs each year for schools, teacher appreciation banquets, and golden age banquets.
I have been running since 1969. I completed the Country Music Marathon in 2004, 2005, and 2006. I have been running barefoot since the Spring of 2010. I have completed many half-marathons barefoot.
I enjoy riding a cruiser bike. I have completed eight century rides on the Natchez Trace.
